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Thursday, 7 October 2010

Be Wary of RCUK 'Priorities'

A great report in the press this week, following the announcement that Robert Edwards was to receive the Nobel Prize for Medicine.

As you may be aware, Edwards was the developer of in-vitro fertilisation treatment, which has led, since 1978, to millions of 'test tube babies'.

Now what normally happens when a British Nobel Prize laureate is announced is for one of the Research Councils to jump on the announcement and claim credit. Strangely, all have been a little quiet this time around. Why? Perhaps it's because the MRC originally rejected Edwards application in 1971. This was for a number of reasons, including the government policy at the time that focused on limiting population growth rather than encouraging more. So Edwards had to turn to private sources of funding.

So if your research doesn't fit the current RCUK fads, don't worry: your time will come.